


Spectrum

by Aaskada



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-05
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-22 02:38:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1573058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaskada/pseuds/Aaskada
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Phantoms started attacking, no one was prepared and with no way to fight back all that's left is to survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> There are going to be various warnings added as I go and they become relevant, certainly the rating will eventually go up....

**PROJECT HELIOS  
CLASSIFIED**

6/14/XX  
Attempts to harness this newly discovered form of radiation have nearly been successful. Tests on lab animals show there to be no harmful side-effects from proximity, consequently the complex will be stepping down from constant quarantine. No progress has been made on determining the source or nature of this energy, but it is currently theorized to be some type of quantum radiation—possibly originating from a higher dimension. It has some sort of reaction with sunlight that causes it to mimic solid mass, the exact frequency causing this reaction is uncertain. Experiments will move forward as scheduled.

Dr. Kevin Oswald

**Government Lab Explodes**  
Miriam Richfield

PHOENIX—Early morning on the 29th the people of Phoenix were woken up by a shockwave that rattled buildings. A lab a few miles from the city had exploded under mysterious circumstances, leaving 12 dead and 45 injured. There was no damage to the city, but the lab was completely destroyed. Government officials have sealed off the area and refused to comment on either the situation or the research that was being done inside the lab. Airspace over the site has been restricted, though no explanations have been given despite repeated inquiries....

**Violent Crime on the Rise**  
Michael Rawley

ORLANDO—For the last month, violent crime has been on the rise nationwide. Property damage has skyrocketed as well as, more alarmingly, increasingly violent murders. Law enforcement at all levels is completely baffled by the spike in near-identical crimes. All witnesses have reported only attacks by invisible assailants leaving behind shattered windows and victims torn limb from limb. Speculation says that the crimes are the work of a cult, but the FBI have denied these allegations. All that is known for certain at this point is that the attacks are happening only during the day. Authorities are urging citizens to travel in groups when going outside during daylight hours cannot be avoided....


	2. Chapter One

The streets had been mostly empty for months with the worldwide murder spree going on. Governments had lost control when it became obvious that they couldn't do anything to stop the strange, mostly invisible, murderous balls of something that was maybe a soul, according to some people, that had been dubbed Phantoms. In the weeks long scramble for supplies and shelter at least half of the world population had died, not all of them at the spectral hands of the Phantoms. Society had rearranged itself to fit the new circumstances.

_New York City, August 13, 2 After Emergence_

"Runnin' low on liquids," a dark-skinned man told the woman next to him.

"I was supposed to be married by now," she muttered to herself, "and now I don't even know if my fiancé's alive and we're running out of water."

"Yeah, yeah, so you've said."

He rolls his eyes and went back to doing inventory on the group's supplies. There's ten of them—by the new classification system they're Survivors, and the group they're going to have to send out to resupply would be called Scavengers—all taking shelter in a Manhattan apartment with the windows boarded up. (The kind of windows that get put in just about any building that isn't a skyscraper are too easy to break and a Phantom can get through them easy. A lot of people died in the first few weeks because they thought they were safe as long as they were inside.)

Emma had been a pampered rich girl engaged to be married back before the dead decided just haunting the living wasn't good enough, and she never let anyone forget it. She'd have been married for a year an a half now if ghosts hadn't started murdering everyone they could get their hands on. Titian was in charge of supplies and the voice of reason. He'd been surprisingly apathetic toward the whole Apocalypse thing and was by far the most level-headed: everyone else had had someone to lose except for him. He'd grown up in the system, probably, but he wouldn't say anything on the subject.

In their group Sharon was doing the worst by far, he'd have to check on her again before going out at sundown. She'd been pretty once, but the years since people started dying had been hard on her. For every bit of Titian's apathy she matched it with paranoia and fear. She was gaunt and her hair had been cut into a ragged bob so it wouldn't catch on anything, like the rest of the women in their group.

In his head Titian considered what they'd need and who to bring to get it. Sharon and Emma were out. So were Mr. Hopkins, who was too out of shape to help much, and Lucian, who was only fourteen. Sarah would try to keep everything that might possibly somehow be useful at some point maybe, but sometimes she picked up something that actually was helpful. Ann was nineteen now and it wouldn't hurt her to get some experience. That left Max, Danny, and Chris. Max was the only one with actual medical training, so Titian was reluctant to risk him, but Danny would be drunk if he could manage it and Chris always went out with the scavengers. They mostly needed water, so it'd be best to leave Danny behind or there was a chance they'd end up with vodka instead.

"Goin' out tonight, usual group."

"I'll tell them," Emma bit out sullenly.

"Ann, too."

She walked out of the room huffily, as she did most things, presumably in search of the others. With one last glance over their supplies, he shut the kitchen cabinets and headed toward the hall closet. Weapons were in that closet, behind the coats. Even if the Phantoms wouldn't be out, wouldn't be affected by them, it was good to carry weapons. Once the sun was down the people came out and they were at least as dangerous.

After some consideration he pulled out a few aluminum baseball bats. Wooden ones tended to hold up a bit better than the hollow aluminum, but metal looked more threatening and that always helped. There were only four of them, but they'd need hands free to carry back anything they found worth keeping.

"Tish, her highness said we're goin' out?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, need some water."

"Who's all in?"

"Max, Sarah, and Ann. Gonna take some bats out, just in case."

"Hey, doesn't hurt to be careful, I know that. 'S long as Sarah doesn't get distracted again we'll be good."

"She's always gonna get distracted. More like 'as long as she don't get us killed this time.' Should be fine, though."

"Y'all talkin' 'bout me again, aren't ya?" asked Sarah in her southern accent that always sounded fake.

Ann was trailing behind her, a bit unsure and a lot young. Most of the group was less than a decade older than her, but she was tinier than Lucian and he hadn't hit his growth spurt yet. Max was only a few steps behind the pair, quietly reassuring her. He gave the lot of them an assessing look.

"We got water for a couple more days, but we need to find more. Preferably before we run out a what we got."

"Anythin' else?"

"Nah, pick it up if it's useful, but we ain't lookin' for anything specific."

"A'ight. Gonna check on Sharon? Sugar's sleepin' again, checked on her a touch ago."

"If you looked, it's fine."

"Then grab a bat an' head out."


End file.
